The sun is out, the air is warmer, and outdoor dining areas are emerging up and down Larchmont Boulevard. Local restaurants are taking the city’s “Al Fresco” dining program to a new level with more amenities like umbrellas and artificial turf, likely because everyone is realizing we are going to be dining outdoors and social distancing for awhile.
Today we walked up and down the street and noticed more tables everywhere, and some fancy setups. We expect more to be coming, too, but here’s what we saw today set up for lunch. This  doesn’t include the restaurants (Le Petit Greek, Louise’s Trattoria, Village Pizzeria and Vernetti) that are only serving dinner for now.
As we reported yesterday, declining infection rates are cause for optimism regarding the pandemic, but experts advise continued caution and vigilance as we race to vaccinate everyone before the more transmissible COVID-19 variants take hold.
If you are going to dine out, keep in mind that the current rules permit dining only with members of your household. Consider that restaurants are going to be asked to enforce that and none are going to want to ask for IDs, so please comply and avoid a challenging situation for your local restaurateur, who is only trying to serve the public as best they can. Â In addition, current rules require guests to be seated, and avoid standing around or circulating between the tables. And you must keep your mask on until your food or drinks are served. Servers are also required to wear a mask and a shield at all times, so guests are expected to keep their masks on when the server approaches the table. And of course, you must put your mask on whenever you leave the table.
Hopefully, everyone will voluntarily comply with those rules and we won’t see a spike in infection rates. For extra protection,  health experts are recommending wearing a double mask.
